2,000 Washington Carpenters Are on Strike
After rejecting a contract proposal from union leadership, 2,000 Washington carpenters walked off the job.

Two thousand Washington carpenters went on strike on Thursday. (NW Carpenters)
Two thousand Washington carpenters went on strike on Thursday, out of 6,600 who currently work under the master agreement with the Association of General Contractors (AGC). Five jobs were picketed, including construction projects at Facebook’s Building X, Microsoft’s Campus in Redmond, and Alphabet’s Google.
“I didn’t know what to expect. People can talk on Facebook, but you don’t know until it’s time for people to show up,” said Joe Rice, a general foreman at Local 30.
Local 816 carpenter Bryce Owings was required to report to work, but he took the day off to stand on the picket line. “I’m a card-carrying carpenter” before anything else, said his superintendent at the jobsite, when Owings asked for a personal day to stand on the picket line.